Sen Vance in letter to Biden admin accuses WaPo writer of encouraging ‘open rebellion’ against US

close

Video

JD Vance: This is an assault on the First Amendment

 Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, reacts to the IRS allegedly targeting conservative groups on 'The Ingraham Angle.'

FIRST ON FOX: Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, sent a letter Wednesday to Attorney General Merrick Garland and Secretary of State Antony Blinken demanding answers regarding a recent Washington Post op-ed that he said suggested "open rebellion" against the United States.

Robert Kagan, an editor at large at the newspaper, wrote a piece last week, claiming that "resistance" to former President Donald Trump, should he win the 2024 presidential election, "could come from the governors of predominantly Democratic states such as California and New York through a form of nullification. States with Democratic governors and statehouses could refuse to recognize the authority of a tyrannical federal government."

"That is always an option in our federal system," Kagan added.

Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, sent a letter Wednesday to Attorney General Merrick Garland and Secretary of State Antony Blinken. (Nathan Howard/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

JD VANCE FURIOUS OVER FORBES ARTICLE ON HOW TO ‘DECENTER WHITENESS,' WILL INVESTIGATE AUTHOR'S DEI FIRM

Vance wrote in his letter to Garland and Blinken that Kagan’s piece potentially violates federal law.

"Excuse me? I must have missed that day in civics class," he wrote after quoting Kagan’s piece. "According to Robert Kagan, the prospect of a second Donald Trump presidency is terrible enough to justify open rebellion against the United States, along with the political violence that would inevitably follow."

Vance also mentioned in his letter that Kagan is married to Victoria Nuland, who is currently serving as the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, and he asks whether her "close relationship with her husband might compromise her judgment about the best interests of the United States."

Vance gave Garland and Blinken a Jan. 6 deadline to answer several questions, including whether the Department of Justice will open an investigation into Kagan.

"If not, what factors counsel against such an investigation? Why were those factors inapplicable in President Trump’s case?" he asked.

Sen. J.D. Vance attends a Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee hearing in Russell Building on Thursday, February 9, 2023.  (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

"How does the Department of Justice distinguish between heated political rhetoric and evidence of a conspiracy to violate rights or rebel against the United States?" he asked. "In the view of the Department of Justice, could a demand for ‘nullification’ or secession ‘intimidate’ a voter into changing his behavior at the ballot box?"

Kagan responded to Vance’s letter in a statement to Fox News Digital on Thursday, writing, "Joe McCarthy would be so proud, but Tailgunner James has jumped the gun. He was supposed to wait until after the Trump dictatorship begins to start locking up Trump’s political opponents."

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

The Washington Post told Fox News Digital it stands by Kagan’s essays.

Kagan published a second piece Thursday expanding on his first, titled, "The Trump dictatorship: How to stop it."

"Some readers of my last essay asked fairly: What can an ordinary citizen do?" he wrote. "The answer is, what they always do when they really care about something, when they regard it as a matter of life and death. They become activists. They get organized. They hold peaceful and legal rallies and marches. They sign petitions. They deluge their representatives, Republican or Democrat, with calls and mail, asking them to speak up and defend the Constitution. They call out their political leaders, state and local, and give them courage to stand up as well. Americans used to do these sorts of things. Have they forgotten how?"

Fox News Digital has reached out to the State Department and the DOJ for comment.